Nanoswarm Hive
Tactical Analysis *'Beehive Barrier': The Nanoswarm Hive is the Empire's defencive superweapon. True to its name, it contains a swarm of nanites that can enclose an area in an unbreakable barrier, preventing any enemies inside from moving or firing. *'Intelligent Swarm': Friendly units and weapons are unaffected by the Nanoswarm, allowing them to fire on affected hostiles without fear of reprisal. In addition, the nanites eat away at the armour of the units it traps, making them more vulnerable to enemy fire. *'Stand By': Like all superweapons, the Nanoswarm Hive is expensive, limited to one per commander, requires a time period between firing, and is defenceless during its countdown. WWIII Operational History Nanotechnology is one of, if not the, most important assets to the Empire of the Rising Sun's military and industrial complexes. While the manufacturing use of nanites is obvious, their military applications were untested until the Empire entered World War 3. Nanites have the power to build, and to take apart, but what caught the interests of many Imperial engineers was their ability to merely just sit around. While one nanite has minimal mass, acting together many nanites could form a barrier that nothing could pass through. The first trial use of this principle was the deployment of Point Defence Drones; Three macro-scale drones are set to hover around a vehicle or mecha, and direct a nanite cloud to intercept any incoming attack. While Imperial Commanders found the Point Defence Drones quite useful, they had their flaws; Eventually, the larger drone run out of power, or enough nanites are destroyed that fire begins to slip through. While the Empire has no intention of removing Point Defence drones from their commanders' arsenal, nanite had much more potential. Imperial Engineers devised a way of "programming" a swarm of nanites to form a spherical shield; The cloud could not move or differentiate between friendly or hostile forces, but a larger area could be covered and held until the nanites ran out of power. In essence, a whole area could be completely locked down, nothing could come in or out (indeed, by latching onto whatever was inside the swarm, enemy units could be kept from moving altogether). A large housing/computing structure or "Hive" could be constructed on the battlefield to allow tactical use of the nanoswarm. Imperial Commanders put these Nanoswarm Hives to great effect; they could shield their own base or units, or lock down those of the enemy. Many claim that the Nanoswarm is just as effective for the Empire as the Iron Curtain or Chronosphere is for their enemies. Post-War Operational History Recent innovations in AI-nanite control has removed many of the limitations of the WW3-era Nanoswarm Hive. The Nanite swarm is now capable of differentiating between friend or foe; Imperial units can now move and fire in and out of a swarm, while the enemy watches helplessly. The nanites are also set to disassemble the enemies inside, rendering their armour more vulnerable to Imperial weapons. This has turned the Nanoswarm from a primarily defencive weapon to one that can double the impact of an ambush or flanking attack. Just the Stats Category:Buildings Category:Superweapons